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The Canadian dollar retreated Monday, as markets have turned their attention on the Bank of Canada and Federal Reserve following Greece closed an agreement with its international lenders. Bank of Canada is set to release its interest rate decision Wednesday, while prospects of Fed increasing rates in September were renewed. The loonie finished at 78.49 US cents from Friday's 78.87 US cents. The likelihood of BOC reducing rates is somewhat weighing on the loonie. “That explains some of the early weakness today,” said Mark Chandler, Head of Canadian Fixed Income and Currency Strategy at RBC Capital Markets. Last week, Statistics Canada reported unemployment rate stayed at 6.8% for the fifth consecutive month. The country also gained a net 32,800 jobs.

Consumer confidence in Australia deteriorated further in July, the latest survey from Westpac Bank and the Melbourne Institute revealed on Wednesday - sliding 3.2 percent on month to a seven-month low index score of 92.2. That follows the 6.9 percent plunge in June to a score of 95.3 - still below the boom-or-bust line of 100 that separates optimists from pessimists. Among the individual components, the outlook for economic conditions over the next year tumbled 10.4 percent. For the next five years, the index fell 4.4 percent. The index for if it was a good time to buy a major household item added 0.2 percent.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras seemed to rule out stepping down early or conceding power to a national unity government with opposition parties after being forced to abandon election promises and accept painful austerity measures. Tsipras said in an interview with Greek state television that a prime minister had the duty to fight and tell difficult truths and take hard decisions.

Non-oil domestic exports in Singapore were up 4.7 percent on year in June, International Enterprise Singapore said on Thursday. That beat forecasts for an increase of 2.0 percent following the 0.3 percent contraction in May. Electronics exports surged an annual 7.6 percent in June, also topping expectations for a gain of 2.4 percent following the 2.5 percent contraction in the previous month. Non-electronic exports were up 3.6 percent after adding 0.6 percent a month earlier. Non-oil re-exports gained 1.9 percent on year after falling 2.8 percent in May.

The Canadian dollar reached its weakest in over six years Wednesday following the Bank of Canada slashed its main interest rate for a second time this year. The country's central bank cut the rate by 25 basis points to 0.5%, citing sudden economic downfall during the first half of the year. The loonie stood at 77.40 US cents from Tuesday's 78.49 US cents. Certainly, the market was not fully anticipating the rate cut and we have noticed a huge reaction “in both bonds and especially the Canadian dollar,” said Doug Porter, Chief Economist at BMO Capital Markets.

The outlook for the Australian economy turned positive again in May, the Conference Board said on Friday, as its leading economic index added 0.2 percent. That follows the 0.3 percent decline in April and the flat reading in March. The LEI got positive contributions from sales to inventory ratio, rural goods exports, yield spread, building approvals and gross operating surplus. Money supply and share prices were down. The coincident index advanced 0.3 percent after gaining 0.1 percent in April and 0.3 percent in March. The CEI got positive contributions from employment, household disposable income and industrial production.

The British pound escalated on Thursday as traders expect the Bank of England to raise interest rates early next year. BOE Governor Mark Carney reiterated a first rate hike since the 2008 financial crash was getting closer and downplayed the effect of a stronger sterling on inflation. The pound traded at 69.64 pence per euro. Against the US dollar, the currency stood at $1.5599. Carney has not been vocal on interest rates, “so that was always going to give sterling a boost," said Angus Campbell, Senior Analyst at FxPro.

The U.S. dollar strengthened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Monday. The U.S. dollar rose to a 6-year high of 0.7327 against the Australian dollar, a 3-month high of 0.9630 against the Swiss franc and nearly a 2-month high of 1.0819 against the euro, from Friday's closing quotes of 0.7368, 0.9607 and 1.0827, respectively. The greenback advanced to 1.5582 against the pound and 124.18 against the yen, from last week's closing quotes of 1.5597 and 124.04, respectively. Against the New Zealand and the Canadian dollars, the greenback edged up to 0.6504 and 1.2998 from Friday's closing quotes of 0.6512 and 1.2968, respectively. If the greenback extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 0.72 against the aussie, 0.97 against the franc, 1.06 against the euro, 1.52 against the pound, 126.00 against the yen, 0.63 against the kiwi and 1.30 against the loonie.

The Times on Sunday reported that Barclays Plc intends to slash more than 30,000 jobs within 2 years after firing Chief Executive Antony Jenkins this month. This move could reduce the global workforce of the bank below 100,000 by 2017 end. It is considered as the only way to address the continuing poor performance, the paper said. These job cuts are likely to affect staff at middle and back office operations. The paper said that a potential candidate, who would replace Jenkins, is expected to axe jobs much faster and more deeply than the ejected boss.

Members of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy board said that the country's economic recovery continues to grow at a satisfactory pace, minutes from the board's June 18-19 meeting revealed on Tuesday. The recovery is expected to continue, the board said, although downside risks include the European debt situation and the state of commodity exporters. "Japan's economy has continued to recover moderately. Overseas economies - mainly advanced economies -- have been recovering, albeit with a lackluster performance still seen in part," the minutes said. In the battle against deflation, the board said that consumer prices figure to be roughly flat due to falling energy prices. "Inflation expectations appear to be rising on the whole from a somewhat longer-term perspective," the bank said. At the meeting, the bank decided to hold its benchmark lending rate steady at 0.10 percent, and also to maintain its target of raising the monetary base at an annual pace of about 80 trillion yen. The bank also announced plans to reduce monetary policy meetings from 2016, down to eight from the current 14. In addition, it would raise the frequency of its economic outlook reports. Accordingly, it will publish forecasts for the economy and prices on a quarterly basis instead of twice yearly. In terms of economic data, exports have been picking up and steady improvement in the employment and income situation support private consumption. "Quantitative and qualitative monetary easing (QQE) has been exerting its intended effects, and the Bank will continue with QQE, aiming to achieve the price stability target of 2 percent, as long as it is necessary for maintaining that target in a stable manner," the bank said.